Move to Level 2 lockdown bodes well for economy – Parsons
The announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa of the country moving to an adjusted Level 2 lockdown is positive news for the economy, North-West University Business School economist Professor Raymond Parsons says.
He says that, although the recent better-than-expected second-quarter gross domestic product growth figures are widely anticipated to put the economy back on track to ‘rebound’ to a 4.5% to 5% growth rate this year, the economy is not yet out of the woods.
Moreover, he notes that the third wave of the pandemic is not yet over and that the importance of the vaccine programme remains.
“This economic caution is necessary because it is widely expected that South Africa’s growth performance in the third quarter remains hostage to the costs of the civil unrest and violence in July, and where recent high-frequency data such as business confidence and manufacturing production are already strongly negative,” Parsons states.
He indicates that the third quarter economic growth will bear the brunt of the July events.
“Hence, the more the economy can become ‘lockdown free’, the more it can help to soften these economic losses,” he posits.
Parsons says that, by continuing to steadily open up the economy as circumstance permit, especially for business sectors hardest hit by the lockdowns, the economy’s recuperative powers will be strengthened.
“The highly positive growth expectations for the year as a whole are then more likely to be met.
“While there are clearly still uncertainties around the future trajectory of the virus, South Africa must now, as far as possible, promote short-term economic and business activity, as well as urgently tackle the major structural obstacles that still lie in the path of future sustained job-rich growth,” he says.
Comments
The
functionality
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation